


And I'm Going to the Beach Where I Belong

by impalafortrenchcoats, superdeanlover



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Boners, Awkward Romance, Fluff and Smut, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Romance, Just a lot of Awkwardness, M/M, Multi, School Reunion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 23:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12331233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impalafortrenchcoats/pseuds/impalafortrenchcoats, https://archiveofourown.org/users/superdeanlover/pseuds/superdeanlover
Summary: This kind of thing would only happen to Namjoon. Who else goes fishing and ends up fish-married?*A Merpeople AU inspired by Jin's promo photo from the Highlight Reel*





	And I'm Going to the Beach Where I Belong

Namjoon didn’t know what the hell he was doing. For one thing, he was no fisherman, so heading out by himself on a boat was not exactly the smartest decision. In fact, wasn’t it recommended not to do this kind of thing alone, anyway? Even for professionals? For another, Namjoon was sure what he was doing was basically grand theft marine edition, since this was neither his boat, nor his fishing gear.

His cousin has offered to take him boating when he visited, but somehow, hijacking the boat and going at it alone while the other man was out probably wasn't what he had in mind.

Whatever, it was too late to regret. He just needed to get his thoughts together.

Ever since the invitation to the high school reunion came, Namjoon spent every waking hour dreading it. While it would have been no skin off his back to skip out on it, his bastard friend just had to be in the committee putting this whole thing together, so there goes his out.

Namjoon sighed heavily and tried to focus on the brisk ocean air whipping at his face.

Maybe he was overthinking it. He was far from popular in school and barely dodged being a social pariah by the combined fact that Hoseok had immense social charisma and that Namjoon was smart enough to benefit all his class partners in group and pair projects. It wasn't like anyone would really remember him.

Then again, once the date was set, and he checked ‘going’ on the Facebook event list, his once empty messages were slowly filling up with well wishes from people he barely could put the name to the face, much to his horror.

There were inane questions like:

“Hey, how have you been doing?”

“Long time no see! What's up, bud?”

But worse, were the ones that held expectations:

“I haven't heard from you in so long! You got around to being a producer?”

“Namjoon! No status? Bachelor and living it up with the girls, right?”

That last one was particularly obnoxious and came from one idiot whom Namjoon had happily wiped from his memory until recently.

But overall, nothing like the overwhelming dread of disappointing a mass of curious, judgmental bystanders for an evening to get the spirits up. Namjoon hoped Hoseok appreciated the things he did for him.

From an outsider’s perspective, there was nothing really wrong with what he was doing. He had graduated and gotten a desk job at a decently sized company. He gave that a solid try but opted out when the monotony became overbearing. He hopped around for awhile, eventually working tech for a start-up, which paid for his modestly sized apartment.

Overall, a relatively successful story for a twenty something year old.

Unfortunately, this wasn't where he wanted to be. It wasn't what he dreamed or hoped for. And being surrounded by people from a time when his dreams were at their height, with the current reality hanging over him? Yeah. Definitely not what he would consider a good time.

But that was a problem for another day. Right now, it was just him, the ocean, and the fishing pole.

He eventually neared what he hoped was the fishing spot his cousin mentioned and dropped anchor upwind from the spot. So far so good.

Unfortunately, that was about all that went well. When he went to fix the pole, Namjoon managed to smack himself with the damn thing no less than six times. When he went to attach the bait, he ended up stabbing himself so many times, he just gave it up as a bad job and tossed the line in as is.

Fuck it, he didn't really expect to catch anything anyway.

And then he sat back. The morning was still early and the cold still clung to the air. Eventually, Namjoon allowed the atmosphere and the quiet to seep onto him, easing his thoughts. He wasn't even aware when he had nodded off, lulled by the easy waves.

As abruptly as he fell asleep, Namjoon found himself jerking back to consciousness when his small boat violently lurched.

“What the-” he mumbled to himself, still blinking the sleep from his eyes. He noted the high noon sun and realized hours must have passed while he was out.

At least the anchor was still secured.

Namjoon peeked over the edge of the boat, trying to figure out what happened. He barely had time to register a dark mass rushing by in the water, when the boat gave another, more violent lurch. He tumbled back.

Okay, yeah. So going out alone was a stupid idea. But a stupider idea would be to stay and try to figure out what the shit just happened. Nope. He’d seen enough horror flicks to know when to get the hell out of dodge.

But like everything else in his life, things just didn't go as planned. He barely found his footing and didn't even start to pull up the anchor when an even stronger lurch sent him tumbling into the water.

“Fu-” was all he uttered before water filled his mouth and nostrils.

He flailed a bit before getting a hold of his nerves and forcing himself to head for the boat.

Two strokes in and Namjoon’s heart stop when he felt what could only be a hand wrap around his ankle and pull. He managed to gasp a lung full of air before the water closed over his head again.

Ignoring the stinging in his eyes, he opened them as he continued his struggles. Glancing up, he was horrified to see the speed at which sunlight rippling on the water surface was receding.

Yeah. So there were a lot of things Namjoon was willing to do to get out of this reunion. But dying certainly wasn't on the list.

He couldn't really see what had him. He honestly didn't want to. Instead, he kicked hard at what he hoped was the thing’s arm and was rewarded with a terrifying shriek, but the hand on his ankle loosened. Namjoon took the opportunity to kick away and swim upward.

Fuck, he couldn't even see the shadow of the boat. Where the hell was he? Whatever, air first, boat later.

He was almost to the top, close enough to the surface for the light to penetrate the water, when the thing returned. Namjoon tried to ignored it and instead focus on making it to the surface, when the thing made that option impossible by coiling itself loosely around him.

Holy fuck, it was huge. The tail alone could circle him twice over. But what was really horrifying was its upper half. In the wavering light, Namjoon could clearly see the thing that caught him. He would have thought he’d lost his mind if the horror hadn't reached out to grip his head, but in front of him, was a humanoid male torso.

And staring at him, distorted by the wavering light, was a human face. He wished he could make out more of it, but all he could be sure of was the fact that this thing looked normal enough, if it weren't for the gills on its neck and the wide fan-like fins where it's ears should be.

Of course, it's features were hard to distinguish in the water, but he could clearly make out the glowing yellow eyes with pupils blown way too wide.

Namjoon would have laughed if he could.

Hey, mermaids, or men, were real and he fucking discovered one.

And now he was going to die.

Haha. Typical Namjoon luck.

It stared at him for a moment, seemingly inspecting him just as much as he was inspecting it. Then, apparently coming to a decision, it smirked and opened its mouth.

Namjoon froze when he saw the rows of sharp teeth bared at him. It was fucking smiling, a vicious, obscene mockery of a smile, before the mouth stretched impossibly wide and it leapt forward, clamping down on his shoulder, right at the crook of his neck.

He screamed at the pain, but all that rose were bubbles, as the water around him tinted red with his blood.

Okay. Fuck this noise. It was too strong. He couldn't get it off of him. But fuck it. Fuck everything. He couldn't do much, but near his face was one of its ear-like fin, and he didn't know what came over him, but he threw caution to the wind and bit down on it as hard as he could.

Some malicious part of him wanted to tear this thing’s fin clear off, but it was tougher than he expected. He held on, though, even when it released his shoulder with a strange keening sound.

He kept biting down, until he got the satisfaction of a warm metallic gush on his tongue.

Yeah, fuck you, fish dick!

And, because he was operating on dumbass instincts, he kept on biting even when the coils around him loosened and the creature’s hands lost its grip.

It was only when the thing released a strange hissing hum and licked the wound on his shoulder that Namjoon snapped out of it and realized his lungs were burning for air. He immediately pushed away, and a few quick strokes brought him bursting through the water surface.

Namjoon spat and sputtered as he searched desperately for his boat but still ended up swallowing a decent amount of seawater and blood.

Great. Monster juice in him. Just like that. With his luck, it's poisonous.

Thankfully he spotted the boat a little ways off and , ignoring his possible imminent doom, Namjoon swam desperately in its direction. In the back of his mind, he was rather surprised the creature hadn't made another attempt at his life.

It was a few nerve-wracking minutes before his hand slapped on the side of the boat, and he quickly scrambled in. Not bothering to catch his breath, he stumbled over to the engine. He grabbed the recoil cord and gave it a few solid tugs to start the engine, before remembering he hadn't pulled up the anchor.

With only a small pause, mostly from the memory of what happened last time he had leaned over the water, Namjoon steeled his nerves and began the long process of pulling up the anchor.

Thankfully, nothing happened in the time it took him to get the damned thing up, but of course, his luck decided to rear its ugly head. Namjoon blamed the fact that he was probably an axe murderer in his past life to have this level of bad mojo in this one.

Just as he got a hold of the anchor, his boat gave a horrifying lurch, almost capsizing.

He hugged the engine to keep from taking another dive into the water.

Then, from behind him, he heard an ominous thump.

Namjoon swallowed.

Slowly, he turned, back stiff and wholly unable to breathe.

And while he was half expecting it, Namjoon felt faint at the sight that greeted him. There, in his tiny boat, was the  _ thing _ .

And it was grotesque.

Not because it was ugly, but because it was an unnerving combination of beautiful and horrifyng. In the light, the unnatural bluish hue of its skin was even more prominent, starting at almost a stark white on the humanoid face and torso and fading to darker tones in its extremities. He couldn’t see the tail, as a majority of its bottom half was draped over the edge of the boat, but he assumed it would be the deep almost black of the tips of the fins on its arms and its gills.

It was semi upright, leaning heavily on its webbed, clawed hands.

Namjoon felt chills run up his spine at the thought of those claws on him.

Although, he couldn't help the tinge of smug delight at the sight of the blood trailing down from its injured ear-fin.

At least he didn’t go down like a total loser.

Actually, fuck that! Who said he was going down at all today.

Bolstered by his own desperation, Namjoon tore his eyes away from the creature and looked around for anything to fend it off with. There were a pair of emergency oars tucked under the middle seating, and he dove for it. Holy shit, he fucking loved his cousin. Of course, Namjoon was a fail whale in every sense of the word, and in his hurry to pick up one oar he managed to fling the other overboard.

Yeah. Okay. If he died today, it was just natural selection doing its thing.

Shaking, both in fear and embarrassment, Namjoon took a fighting stance and turned back to the creature. The thing had the audacity to look amused, if the little smile on its face was anything to go by.

“H-hey! Hey, you,” he called and the thing tilted its head, “Yeah, you! Get off my boat!”

Instead of doing what he requested, not that he was sure it could even understand him, it slithered, yeah, slithered seemed like the right word for it, forward and rested its arms on the  seating. This was rather disconcerting considering that all that separated them were two bench seatings. Namjoon hated his life.

As it leaned its head on its arms, Namjoon felt goosebumps pop up all over his body when he realized there was a vicious looking dorsal fin running down the line of its back.

“H-h-hey, no, stop it! Don’t come any closer. I swear I’ll beat your fucking ass!” Namjoon emphasized this statement by raising the oar over his head and posturing a bit.

A lot of good that did. It seemed to have taken the threat as a challenge and simply shook some remaining water from the sodden locks clinging to its face.

And then it smiled and lunged forward.

So, that was definitely not the reaction Namjoon was prepared for. He stumbled back, flailing from the imbalance of the oar’s weight and the sudden rocking of the boat, and as luck would have it, his foot caught on a rope and he was sent tumbling backwards. His head clipped the side motor as he went down.

His world dissolved into a flare of white, and just as abruptly, black.

Namjoon couldn’t be sure, but he must have gained consciousness at some point or it could have just been a dream, but he was sure at some point, he swore he had blinked and hovering over him were a pair of yellow eyes. It was too bright, though, and when he shut his owns, he thought he’d felt the brush of something soft against his lips.

But who knows.

Smacking his head on a metal box probably fucked with his brain.

If he had gained consciousness at any point, he most definitely lost it again soon after, because the next time Namjoon opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at a very pink sky. Confused, Namjoon sprang up and noted the sun sinking into the the water’s edge.

Shit, how long was he out for?

He was also surprised to see both oars tucked neatly under the seating and the fish rod as well was leaning casually against the side of the boat.

“What the hell?”

Was it all just a dream?

Holy shit, he really needed to lay off the beers, then. Crap!

And now he only had half an hour to get his ass back before his cousin got in. Shit!

Namjoon went about revving up the engine again and zipped off back toward land. Had he been paying more attention, he would have notice a dark shadow trailing after him, just under the waves.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

As Namjoon made his way back to the house, he was pretty convinced he’d lost his mind.

All the signs were there and had been there waiting in the shadows since Hoseok had called him about the reunion. The edginess, the tendency towards day-dreaming, irrational behavior, and forgetfulness were all present. Namjoon’s general lack of motivation, energy and purpose had all led to this moment. His rash and impulsive behavior was the final indicator leading to the hallucination. Never in a million years would Namjoon ever consider taking out a boat without proper guidance and gear. Anything could have happened to him or worst he could have hurt someone.

Namjoon shook his head and tried to clear the rest of the cobwebs still clinging to his mind. He would make an appointment with a psychiatrist and get himself some help as soon as possible. For now, he needed a giant Advil, a shower and some rest. Namjoon supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. As he opened the door to the house he began to rationalize what had led to his break down.

He was a genius, and teachers, parents, and colleges had monitored his moods his whole life. Namjoon had always assumed that there wasn’t a single thing that could unsettle him, but he had been wrong. Who would have known that a single high school reunion would be enough to lead to his mental breakdown.

Namjoon took down a bottle of Advil from the kitchen cupboard and quickly threw two back. He walked into the room and stripped down heading straight for the shower. Under the strong and hot spray, Namjoon admitted that he’d been on a mental brink.

He’d been doing the same work and had the same routine since he and Hoseok had meet many years ago. Surely the monotony had done something to shake mental state. Yes, that had to be what had happened. Namjoon had lost his ability to adapt and introduce new experiences into his life.

Namjoon took the bottle of shampoo and lathered his hair. His hair was longer than he usually kept it. This was a sign he must have missed. Namjoon looked in the mirror and dabbed at his ear. It had stopped bleeding, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do more. Namjoon finished showering and wondered how long his breakdown had been coming on. Instead of putting on pajamas, as was his tendency, Namjoon threw himself on the bed and let sleep take him. Yes, he would call and get an appointment in the morning. They’d do an evaluation and everything would be alright.

* * *

* * *

 

 

Namjoon woke up slowly peeling away the layers of sleep. He felt slightly drunk and completely relaxed. Namjoon took a deep breath and shook his head. He remembered the day before and what had happened on the boat. He recalled the hallucination and was oddly aware that he was naked. Namjoon opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He was in the middle of a mental breakdown - the first order of business would be to get an evaluation done. Namjoon was trying to recall the name of a good psychiatrist when the door to his bedroom sung open. Namjoon sat in bed frozen at the sight before him.

A man walked into his room holding a tray with food. The man smiled eyes twinkling at Namjoon.

“You’re up,” he said.

Namjoon’s eyes widen unsure of what to do. His mind quickly recalled that when faced with a psychopath you must always play along until you can get away. He man was nearly as tall as he was with broad shoulders and an athletic built. The man moved gracefully towards him and set the tray on the night stand.

“Is your head ok,” the man sat down on the bed and lifted a hand towards Namjoon’s head.

Namjoon flinched and shifted away.

“Oh does it still hurt? I was sure I healed it,” The man got on all fours and reached for him. It was then when Namjoon realized the man was simply wearing one of his old white button down shirts and was clearly naked underneath.

Namjoon in a sad attempt to get away ended up on his back on the bed. The man loomed over him gently touching his head. “No, everything looks okay… does your head hurt?”

Namjoon blinked back eyes wide unable to do anything but stare. His mind was racing trying to find a way to get a way or find a weapon to fight the man off.

“Hmm maybe a little bit, but I can fix that. Let me see has your bite healed?”

Namjoon froze as he felt the man’s hands settle against the side of his neck. He could feel the cool breeze of the man’s breath on his neck and a chill went up his spine.

“It will leave a scar and I am sorry about that. I wouldn’t want your skin to be marked but it’s part of the mating.” Namjoon shivered again but instantly froze as he felt the man run a tongue up the side of his neck and by his ear. “My teeth are sharp though so the scar will be light in a few weeks.” 

The man laughed, and it sounded like a windshield-wiper running against dry glass.

“Just a little bit more,” the man said as he ran his tongue down Namjoon’s neck once more, “it will heal well so don’t worry. Well at least you didn’t get bitten by a human right?” The man laughed again and touched a hand to the side of his neck. 

“But I quite like the scar, see,” the man stretched his neck and there was a clear bite mark on the side of his long neck, “it’s nice even if your teeth aren’t nearly as sharp.”

When the man turned to face Namjoon again, his eyes glowed a molten yellow.

He hadn’t been dreaming.

Namjoon scrambled to get away. He kicked, shoved, and pushed the man off of him. Namjoon landed on his back arms flailing wildly. He somehow managed to regain his balance and made his way to the door. He ran like the devil was on his heels and for all that Namjoon knew it might be true. Namjoon ran naked through the house. In retrospect, a shirt, pants, underwear, shoes, or a sheet would have been helpful but survival was more important that instant. Namjoon vaguely register the man calling out, but he couldn’t make out the words.

When Namjoon reached the doorknob of the front door, he almost wept with relief. He jerked the door open with all his might, and there standing on his front porch were three young boys.

Namjoon’s perfect lack of coordination decided to show up in that moment and he hit his foot against the frame of the door. He hopped, still naked, and fell back landing hard on his back.

“Is that our lunch?”

“It’s a little more alive than I like.”

“Didn’t you say the Mer-jerk had taken a few bites already?”

“Damn it… if we don’t feed soon we’re going to be stuck like this for a moon cycle.”

“Oh, don’t complain we all saw the blood.”

“Well what do we do?”

“Is _it_ alive?”

Namjoon felt someone kick his leg. What in the world was happening? He tried to yell for help but there was an intense ringing in his head.

“Monie!”

Namjoon squinted his eyes and seconds later the man was on him.

“You filthy scavengers you stay away from him.”

Namjoon just moaned as the man threw himself on him and tried to cover him with his body.

“Who are you calling scavengers? We followed him ever since he got on the boat. You stole OUR lunch.”

“Touch him and die you disgusting, spineless bottom dweller.”

“Easy, easy… why don’t we share him? You’re looking for a quick bite anyway right?”

Namjoon managed to open his eyes through the ringing and now pounding in his head. The dark hair boy stepped forward, and the man hissed at him.

“He’s mine,” he growled.

“Don’t be greedy,” said a boy with bright red hair.

“Yeah, don’t be greedy. There are three of us; is it really worth the trouble,” a blond boy with a sweet face added.

Namjoon heard some strange sounds coming from the man’s mouth.

“Oh well, your highness, it doesn’t change anything, he was in free water that’s open hunting ground-“

Namjoon managed to raise himself on his elbows and all conversation stopped.

“Tae… he’s been bitten...” the blonde boy nudged his companions and pointed at Namjoon’s neck.

The boy with dark hair broke out in laughter. 

“What bad luck you have,” he said looking straight into Namjoon’s eyes, “you’re married to a Mer-jerk.”

Namjoon’s brain decided that he’d had enough for the day and he did something he’d never done before. He fainted.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

“You’re smothering him.”

“Just shut up.”

“Mer-jerk seriously you’re crowding him. He’s human, he needs air, remember?”

“I think, even in the water, giving people space is a good thing. Wow, he’s really tall, and he doesn’t even have a tail.”

“Stop talking and touching things. I am older than all three of you. I could have raised you guys on my back.”

It was the laughter that Namjoon registered first. It was bright, full of life, and young, because nothing else that was said made any sense to him.

“Oh pants, I always think they’re so strange right Kookie? Like imagine if Jimin had to wear pants? Why would we want to cover his beautiful legs? We wouldn’t!”

“Don’t touch anything! I swear if you guys make me come get you, you’ll be sorry.”

“Yes, yes Mer-jerk hyung, we’re just looking anyway.”

“Ahh, they’re too long.”

“No, you’re just a shrimp.”

“You’re mother’s a shrimp.”

“No? She was a red-haired siren?”

“Oh Tae… if you weren’t so pretty, you would have starved long ago.”

“Stop touching his things!”

Namjoon felt a weight leave the bed, and he slowly forced himself to get up. He counted to 10 and opened his eyes, even though his head still felt like he’d been hit with a hammer several times.

Upon opening his eyes Namjoon registered several things.

 

  1. He was still naked.



 

Somehow, someway, he had managed to not get a single piece of clothing to cover his modesty. He was as naked as the day he was born and surely this was a bad position for him to bargain for his life.

 

  1. He had not one captor but four.



 

The first man, the incredibly attractive man was still there. He was tall maybe about an inch shorter than Namjoon. He had broad shoulders and a lean build, like a swimmer. Namjoon assumed that it was him who had carried him back to the room. Namjoon could see sleek muscular legs under the white shirt he wore and the most glorious mane of hair.

The other three captors, Namjoon remembered seeing when he opened the door in his failed escape. One was blonde, and not the icy lifeless color or the yellow processed fakeness Namjoon disliked, but a soft yellow like sunshine. He was the shorter of the three, but his cut off shorts also showed off muscular legs. The blonde one was hiding behind the other two smiling so sweetly Namjoon could almost forget that these men might kill him.

The second was brunette with chocolate dark hair. He was the tallest of the three with sharp features and a glimmer of mischief in his eye. His hair was tasseled around his face emphasizing his angular face even more. He seemed to be teasing the blonde one, but Namjoon could clearly see how he angled his body to protect him.

The last was a brilliant redhead. He was smiling and flashing perfect white teeth. His hair was longer and covering his eyes. He managed to look both dangerous and surprisingly friendly at the same time.

Namjoon looked around the room and decided to plan his escape. If he could get underwear or something to cover his balls he could hop out the back window. He wasn’t graceful, but he would risk the bruises, cuts or whatever else happened as long as he could get away. Namjoon slowly slipped off of the bed as his four captors continued to bicker.

He almost made it.

Namjoon had wrapped a towel around himself and was straddling the window silt when the room went silent.

“Hey, did we order our lunch to go?”

Namjoon cursed. He was screwed.

“Monie ,do you want to go out? Don’t you guys usually use doors for that?”

“Hmmm, Mer-hyung I don’t think they usually do that. You know when you’re going hunting and they go in another direction…”

Namjoon dove out the window and right before his feet touched the ground and possibly freedom, two long, strong hands gripped him and pulled him back. Namjoon handed on the floor with a loud thud.

“Ouch.”

Namjoon looked up to see the three staring down at him and he scrambled to get away. The arms that had been holding him tight loosened.

“I always forget how the ground hurts here,” the blonde one said as he shook his head. “Do you think he’s ok?”

“I am fine,” Namjoon answered.

“Not you, him,” the blonde one pointed at the beautiful man who was unconscious on the floor.

“So what now? Do we eat him?”

“Nah,” said the brunette, “we can’t eat him anymore the Mer-jerk was right look at his neck.”

The blonde one bent down and tilted the beautiful man’s neck and the bite mark on his neck seemed to glimmer in the light. “Wow… well he did use his body to protect the human from the fall. He hit his head pretty hard think he’s ok?”

“Mer-hyung…,” the red head one called as he got down and put his face inches away from the beautiful one.

“He’ll be fine,” the brunette one said as he pulled the other two away. “Besides it’s not like he’s our problem. He’s married to the human. Let’s go see if we can find some food.”

Namjoon just sat there on the floor, and when the door clicked shut, he scrambled to his feet, put on pants a shirt, and was almost out the window again when a single word stopped him, “Monie.”

Namjoon froze.

He wanted to run.

He needed to call the cops.

He needed to get away, but he couldn’t.

Namjoon did yet another stupid thing, possibly the stupidest, and stepped back into the room. He looked at the beautiful man whose lips he could still feel against his neck.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> There's no real excuse except that we've been personally victimized by Jin and his goddamn beautiful face.


End file.
